Art of making mineral wool.



substantiall UNITED srrntrlnnirnur OFFICE.

aan', or sr. Loursjmssom nn'r or ma woon.

' Application mearebmaryas, 1917. sername. 150,45;

To all whom z' may concern: -Be it known that I, WILLIAM Fax, a citizen of the United States of America, a residentv of the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Art of MakinglMmeral Wool, of which the following is a and exact description, reference being ha to the Yaccompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification.

My invention. relates toa new and useful recess of making mineral wool.4 In carrymg out the process, a stream of molten scoriaceous material is acted upon by a'blast of fluid, whereb the molten material is rojected and divi ed into fine filaments w ich form the mineral wool. By the term scomaceous material I mean to include slag, rock and any other material adapted to be melted and then projected to form mineral wool. Mineral wool made in this manner 1s also known as rock wool, rock cotton, silicate cotton, and various other names all meaning the same thing.

One of t e objects of the invention is to provide a highly efficient process 'of subject- 1n the bers to the action of oil or other suitable dust-settling fluid, so that the mineral wool may be handled, packed in the form' of bales and shipped without further treatment.r More specifically stated, an ob- .ject is to obtain -this and other advantages without chilling and hardening the molten `material before it is divided mto long incandescent laments.

The blast carrying the dust-settling Huid (preferably oil) is injected very forcibly into the stream of molten material, and since this blast constitutes the means for dividing the material into a mass of fine filaments or fibers, it will be apparent that all of the filaments or fibers are thoroughl acted upon by the oil. The product is free o loose dust or line powder and in such a condition that it may be baled and shipped to the consumer. The oil is introduced 1n such a manner that it does not smoke or discolor the product. However, this oil is very forcibly injected into the stream of materlal and it serves to la the ine dust or powder which would ot erwise y freely from the product.

To avoid undue cooling, which would chill' and harden the molten material, the oil is preferably heated before it reaches said material. In the preferred form of the invention, the oil is commingled with steam, and Y Specication et Lettersvratent.

ll, clear Patented Oct.. 9, 191.7,

this hot mixture is forcibly injected into i the stream of molten material. v

The steam protects-the oil; prevents it from bemg burned or carbonized by vthe molten material, the oil laden steam being projected at a high velocity into the receivmg chamber.. Instead of being consumed by the molten material, the constantly flowmg stream of oily vapor is introduced into the recelvmg chamber, where it commingles with the iiylng fibers of mineral wool also penetrating the bodv of wool inthe ower portion of the cham er. A

Figure I is a diagrammatical plan view, on a very small scale, showing an apparatus adapted for use in carryin out my method. Fig. II is an enlarge side elevation, partly in section.

A designates a cupola in which the scoriaceous .material is melted. B desi stream of molten material flowin lower portion of thecupola. A b ast pipe C terminates at a nozzle D near the lower portion of the cupola. A receptacle E adapted to contain a `heavy hydrocarbon oil, or other suitable dust-settling. fluid, is connected tocharged at a very high velocity from the nozz e D, divides the stream -of molten materxal B into a mass of long incandescent filaments. A tube G, passing through a wall of the receiving chamber Il, is arranged to conduct the stream ofhot vapor and mineral wool filaments, or fibers, \into said receiving chamber.

To avoid combustion, or the production of smoke or carbon, the dust-settling fluid is preferably a high-boiling oil which'will not flash or burn when momentarily sub'ected to the heat of the molten material. found in actual practice that an oil of this kind protected by a relatively large volume ates a rom the have of steam, will produce highly desirable results. f l j It will be observed that the steam is an inexpensive heating agent for the oil, and that the oil is very thoroughly commingled with the steamA before it reaches the discharge nozzle. The oil is thus heated and l forcibly distributed throughout the mass of material so that all of said material is very thoroughly acted upon by the hot blast of oil-laden steam.

Ileretofore, wool receiving chambers have been provided with large vents or outlets and the streams of Wool have been projected toward such vents oroutlets. As 'a result, thc fiying fibers circulate freely toward the large vent and accumulate to form a relatively large body of wool near the vent. Since the path ofY least resistance is in a straight line from the blow tube to the large vent, the wool rushes rapidly in this general direction. At the beginning of the operation, when the wool receiving chamber is empty, the Wool collects on the floor near the large vent, ,and as the operation continues, the projected fibers flowing in kthe path of least resistance, all tend to rush rapidly toward the large vent until they are `stopped' by striking the main mass of vvool or some'othcr object. Obviously, there is an opportunity for an appreciable amount of the fine particles to escape freely through the large vent. However, the most important point is that almost all of the projected fibers rush quickly to a given point Where they are stopped, instead of being permitted to circulate or float freely in the Wool chamber.

In the preferred form of my invention, the Wool receiving chamber H is provided With restricted vents J and K in its ceiling or top Wall, the vent J being formed at a point directly above the tube G. rlhe vent K is preferably formed at a point diagonally opposite the vent d. The vents are so small that the mass of flyingfibers does not circulate freely toward either vent. Moreover, the slight circulation due to the fioW of fluid through the oppositely disposed vents, results in countercurrents which do not cause a free circulation to any definite point.

Owing to the size and location of the restricted vents, a substantial pressure is created in the Wool chamber by the blast of steam laden oil; and this oily vapor under pressure commingles With the fine Wool fibers which float freely in the Wool chamber. The free fibers are thoroughly acted upon by the vapor before they settle on the body of Wool, and the entire body of Wool is constantly acted upon by the oily vapor. A most effective treatment is, therefore, obtained by maintaining the vapor in the Wool chamber under pressure, instead of permitting it to escape freely. p If the incandescent filaments are chille suddenly, they will harden and form glassy shot or fine glass-like strings. To obtain the best results, the bers shouldl be permitted to cool slowly. 1t is, therefore, an advantage to cause the bers to float freely in the Warm vapor, for a considerable period of time, before they strike a relatively cool object.

lt will now be understood that the warm oily vapor confined under pressure in the Wool chamber, settles the dust, causes the line particles to cling to the larger fibers, and prevents the hot fibers from cooling too rapidly. 111 addition to enabling the product to be packed and shipped in bales, this treatment increasesthe yield by retaining the line particles in the main mass of wool, also by avoiding the production of a large percentage of shot. j

Mineral Wool is sometimes broken up or reduced to fragments by a treatment known as cycloning. Whenso treated the fine dust-like particles flying from the mass are permitted to escape, and if recovered they' have very little if any value, 1f the Wool is treated in accordance With the method herein disclosed, a relatively small percentage of dust Will ily from the fibers during the cycloning operation, and the loss will be materially decreased.

rlhe apparatus herein shown is claimed in an application for patent filed by me March 3, 1917, Serial Number 152,329. i

1 claim l. The process of making mineral wool which comprises heating a dust-settlingl fluid and then forcing the hot dust-settling fluid into a stream of molten scoriaceous material.

2. rllhe process of making mineral Wool Which comprises commingling oil with another fluid, and forcing the mixture at a high velocity into a stream of molten scoriaceous material, thereby projecting the molten material to form mineral Wool.

3. The process of making mineral Wool which comprises commingling oil with steam, and then forcing the hot oily mixture at a high velocity into a stream of molten scoriaceous material, thereby projecting the molten material to form mineral Wool.

4. The method of making mineral Wool which comprises commingling steam with a dust-settling fluid, and projecting the mixture into a stream of molten scoriaceous material.

5. The method of making mineral Wool Which comprises projecting the Wool fibers or filaments intoY a Wool-receiving chamber, commingling the fibers or filaments With a dust-settling vapor confined in said chamber and maintaining the contents of said Chamber under pressure.

6. The method of making mineral Wool which comprises projecting the Wool fibers or filaments into a Wool-receiving chamber, introducing a dust-settling fluid into the chamber, permitting fluid to escape through oppositely disposed restricted vents at the upper portion of said chamber, and maintaining the contents of said chamber under pressure, thereby permitting the free. fibers or filaments to float slowly in the dustsettling fluid confined by said chamber.

7. The method of making mineral Wool which comprises projecting steam into molten scoriaceous material, conducting the projected steam and mineral Wool fibers into a Wool-receiving chamber, and preventing the free escape of fluid from said chamber, except through a plurality of restricted vents, lthereby maintaining `the contents of the chamber under pressure and permitting the free bers to oat slowly in the confined steam before they settle in the Wool-receiving chamber.

V 8'. The method of making mineral Wool which comprises commingling steam with a dust-settling fluid, projecting the mixture into a stream of molten scoriaceous material, conducting the projected steam, dustsettlino fluid and mineralv Wool fibers into a Wool receiving chamber, preventing the free escape of fluid from said chamber, thus maintaining the contents of the chamber under pressure and causing the Wool bers to ioat or circulate freely and slowly in the dust-settling fluid.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I hereunto affix my signature.

WILLAM FAY. 

